The present invention relates generally to vehicle door lock assemblies.
Conventional vehicle doors, particularly those with movable window glass, often have an inside manual lock button. The inside manual lock button extends upward through a hole in the door trim panel, allowing one to manually unlock the door from inside the vehicle by grasping and pulling up on this button, or lock the door by pushing down on the button. The lock button connects to a lock mechanism on the door latch via a lock rod and an inside locking lever. The lock rod is attached to the lock button, and extends downward between the door trim panel and a door inner panel—in a dry area of the door. The lock rod then bends and extends outboard through a grommet mounted in the door inner panel, before bending again to extend down to the inside locking lever, which is mounted to the door latch. This lower portion of the lock rod and inside locking lever are, consequently, mounted between the door inner panel and a door outer panel—in a wet area of the door. The wet area is called this because water on the movable window glass or water leaking between the glass and window seals can get into this part of the door.
There are disadvantages in having the lock rod extend through a grommet and having the inside locking lever in a wet area of the door. For example, extending through the grommet may create a leak path allowing water to travel through the grommet from the wet area to the dry area. Also, the change of direction in the lock rod as it transitions from extending vertically in the wet area to more horizontal (in order to pass through the grommet) creates a feature that allows for easier unlocking by thieves who slide a device along the window glass to engage the rod at this location. Thus, an additional cover may be needed to prevent this type of unlocking. In addition, with the inside locking lever being located in the wet cavity, it may be subject to freezing issues during cold weather. Moreover, with the lock rod attaching to the inside locking lever between the inner and outer door panels, blind assembly of the two may be required at a vehicle assembly plant.